Minutes after city council unanimously approved a four-year contract with its outdoor workers union, Mayor Rob Ford declared: “This is the greatest day in this council’s history.”

Ford made the pronouncement at a Wednesday news conference surrounded by right-wing councillors — several of whom recently split with the mayor in the high-profile budget and transit votes.

The photo-op, clearly designed to show Ford still enjoys significant support on council, marked the first time the mayor has been able to publicly celebrate his CUPE victory. When the deal was signed last Sunday, Ford enjoyed only a few hours of positive headlines before the resurrection of Transit City hijacked the public’s attention.

On Wednesday, councillors made sure Ford got his moment.

“I would like to really give credit to the mayor,” said Ford ally Denzil Minnan-Wong said on the floor just prior to the vote. “I think it really did help that the unions knew we were serious ... that we weren’t going to blink.”

Afterward, Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday said the deal — which gives the city unprecedented power to contract out, lay off and reshape scheduling for its 6,000 outdoor workers — will go down as one of Ford’s most important achievements.

Speaking to reporters afterwards, Ford patted his administration on the back for winning tough concessions without a labour disruption, which people said couldn’t be done.

“We’re not going to have a strike for the next four years and we’re going to save the taxpayers $100 million.”

Under the new contract, Ford’s staff estimate that $35 million can be saved from improved efficiency, and that the city is off the hook for $54 million in retiree benefits.

Opposition councillor Shelley Carroll called that figure a “wild exaggeration.”

CUPE spokesperson Cim Nunn said after the contract passed council that this was the best deal the union could hope for, given the circumstances. What it means for the library union and indoor workers’ union — Local 79 — is unclear.

“I think the city hopes it’s a template they can impose on the other bargaining units still in negotiations with the city,” he said, adding that CUPE will fight to make sure the city recognizes the differences between the three groups.

Meanwhile, the city’s paramedics caused a stir Wednesday by publicly condemning their new contract. Toronto Paramedic Association president Geoff MacBride said that while paramedics don’t want to split from Local 416, they would like their own bargaining unit. MacBride said changes to scheduling as well as the fact that EMS support staff are still not included in the essential-service designation are major points of unrest.

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